What if the plane had been on time?
by apgov
Summary: A first time story. Grissom's pov. A little Sara, Lady Heather shows up and a twist at the very end. I hope.
1. Default Chapter

What if the Plane had not been late?  
No I don't own any of these characters except the ones I make up for convenience sake.

Gil Grissom glanced at his watch as he sat in the terminal. The other passengers were a disgruntled bunch. Some were crowding the counter badgering the airline employees, as if they could fix what ever problem the plane was having by cursing and fuming. Others were busily buzzing on cell phone. These passengers remained him of bees, as they complained to the party on the other end of the line. Gil had his cell phone, He wondered if he should call anyone and let them know he was grounded in New York. This thought made him strangely melancholy. He searched his mind. There wasn't anyone that would be concerned if his flight landed late, no one waiting anxiously at the gate for him. The conference had been a welcome relief from work. A chance to get away from the thing he hated most about his work, the politics. There had been changes and change made him uncomfortable. Catherine becoming a supervisor and Sophia's assignment was an unhappy arrangement he had not control over. He knew the office gossip, he knew that it was being whispered that she was a plant by Ecklie to monitor him and his team.

What a Jerk" he said

"No Kidding" a voice next to him replied. Gil had not realized that he had vocalized his thoughts and he turned to look at the person addressing him.

"Who?" Gil looked to his left , feeling confused. He had momentarily forgotten he was sitting in the busy terminal.

"The man on the cell phone at the counter screaming at his travel agent and the Southwestern employee at the same time. Oh I'm sorry. You weren't talking to me." she said.

" No, I ah no" Gil replied. "Sorry, no I was thinking out loud"

The silence was uncomfortable. He didn't know what to say next. Was an explanation needed? He looked at the woman sitting at his left, at the magazine she held in he hands.

"You read German" Gil asked hoping to be appropriate, but he just really wanted to return to his thoughts.

"Yes" she replied and returned to her reading.

Gil wondered if he had been rude or if she were the one being rude? Then he looked at her again. She looked vaguely familiar. Had she been at the conference. The magazine she held was a Journal of Child Behavior. He knew that the possibility of her attendance of his session on the life span of bottle flies and their significance in investigating urban homicide was slim, given her choice of reading material. He noticed the woman glancing at him. She looked away when he caught her eye.

"This is going to sound like a line…. Don't I know you from someplace?" He said lamely, hoping she wouldn't put him the same category as angry cell phone man.

"Thank goodness… I've been sitting here for the last half hour thinking the same thing." she answered.

"Judging from the title of your book, you were not at the entomology seminar I presented?" he offered.

"No, a conference on Trauma and the adolescent Brain. Maybe if we introduce our selves it will help? Abigail Grey." She offered her hand

"Gil Grissom- Las Vegas Crime Lab" He hadn't meant to say the last part, but it was habit. He shook her hand.

"That's it. Court, we have seen each other in court" she looked relieved

"No, I still… yes… okay… we have testified at some in some of the same cases" He answered

"I'm a child psychiatrist, I work with children that have suffered severe trauma. You and I tend to pass in the halls. I read a lot of your forensics reports." she finished

FLIGHT 235 NEW YORK TO LAS VEGAS NOW BOARDING…… 


	2. chapter two

As Grissom walked past the baggage claim area he congratulated himself on packing light and only needing a carry on bag. He mentally readjusted to work and away from the brief relief that the academia of the conference provided. His beeper and cell phone immediately chirped and rang simultaneously. One look at his beeper and he knew within an hour he would be emerged in a homicide.

"Grissom" he barked into the phone.

"You've landed finally" Brass barked back "Get over to the Mirage. It looked like a someone tried to redecorate a room with a paint sprayer full of blood and accent the room with dismembered body parts"

"Have you been watching TLC again" he joked

"Very funny, just get here" Brass hung up.

"Welcome Home" Grissom thought, looking around at the passengers being hugged and escorted out of the air port by people genuinely happy to see them.

Sara came to mind, he wondered if she would be at the scene. She seemed to be making herself scarce where he was concerned lately. He earnestly hoped that the attraction they had felt toward one another had faded. He had certainly disciplined himself not to indulge in thought of what his life could be like if they explored what lay unspoken between them for 5 years. She seem to alternately seek him out and ignore him. He was not willing to upset their careers in order to explore the possibility of a relationship that could cost both of them more then they were willing to pay. On the other hand she had never really reciprocated any overture, no matter how clumsy, he had offered. He walked to short term parking and got into his truck, his mind losing the thought of Sara and preparing for the grisly scenario that awaited him at the Mirage.

"What took you so long?" Brass impatiently asked

"Traffic was murder" Gil answered looking around the room. "Your eloquent description was accurate"

Gil could smell the coppery scent of blood as he gotten off the elevator. The room looked like it had literally been sprayed with blood and the torso of a female body lay on the bed the arms and legs missing.

"I found the missing appendages in the tub. The head is still MIA but these arms and legs belong to our torso " Nick yelled from the bathroom.

Putting on gloves and surgical booties on his shoes, Grissom entered the scene.

"I'll just wait our here" Brass offered. Grissom frowned.

"You are not gonna believe this, Gris," Nick said emerging from the bath room. " I tested the blood on the walls , its not human."

"Get the samples back to the lab, find out what it is." Grissom ordered. "Nick, wait, it really looks like the room was literally sprayed with blood"

Nick examined the walls and furniture.

"Like with one of those power sprayers from Lowes or something" Nick offered

"Time of death?" Gil asked looking down at the torso, being examined by the ME.

"Not long about three hours" The ME added

"What are we looking at?" Grissom grimaced as he walked out of the hotel room.

Brass told Grissom that he had men searching the adjoining rooms and questioning all the occupants of the floors above and below the room. Nothing had turned up. Grissom told Nick to make sure the surveillance taped were sent back to CSI. An unnecessary command, since Nick had already seen to that detail. The was practically unprocessable with the amount of blood in the room. They would need more protective clothing to process it. Gil wanted to know the animal the blood came from first , that might give up a lead. He would wait until the body was taken from the room. The autopsy would answer a few question. Brass's phone rang.

"A valet found a head in a car, might be our vic's" he yelled to Grissom

"You think?" Gil replied and headed to the new scene. 


	3. three

Grissom sits in his office rubbing his temples. This shift had been hell. The Mirage murders had hit the papers first thing this morning. The CSI team had identified the body . The car the head was found in had belonged to the victim. She was an undercover narcotics agent with the FBI. She had been made by the drug cartel her task force was about to bust , thus the pig blood on the walls. The murderers had been caught on surveillance tape and Grissom had been forced to turn the investigation over to the Feds not a half hour ago.  
"Hey, How was the conference" Sara asked standing at the door to his office.  
Grissom looked up. Thinking about the fact that he had been in stranded in an airport just 12 hours before.  
"Fine" he answered tiredly.  
"Tough Break on the Mirage Case." she offered " Not really, she was a Fed. They need to take care of her. If it were one of us we would want to get the bad guys." he said "I guess your right, but word is Ecklie's spinning it to look like we dropped the ball or something and asked for Federal help" She said. Grissom looked up at her. He didn't answer, but he hoped she was wrong. Everyone in the department would know that stepping aside and letting the Fed's handle a murder of one of their own agents was just a professional courtesy, but the with the right spin the media could hurt the public's opinion of Grissom and his team. Public opinion mattered a great deal when asking for promotions and funding for your team .  
"Dammit" Grissom muttered "Don't shoot the messenger and don't you have to be in court today ?" Sara said as she walked away "Dammit" he muttered again as he grabbed a file and his jacket and headed for the court house.

He didn't have to drive by on his way to court, but he had time. He justified the side trip by telling himself it was a reminder not to cross the line. He almost crossed it with Sara and he had cross it was her. Lady Heather's lay ahead to the right. Odd how the light of day changed the house. When he drove by at night it sent erotic shivers up his spine to think of her. She had gotten him to let down his guard and he had punished himself by betraying her trust. She didn't give her trust easily , a trait he understood and had used to try to prove… what? He wondered what would happen if he just parked and knocked on her door? No. Leave it alone, he had finally began to put the need he had felt for Lady Heather in a place where he could deal with it. He only drove past the house only when he was under a great deal of stress. Maybe he really needed to examine what that meant in relation to what went on in that house. He chuckled and turned toward the courthouse.

"Don't I know you from somewhere"

The words made Grissom startle. He had been so engrossed in reviewing his case notes. It was her.. From the airport…Ann… April..

"Dr. Grey, what a surprise." He answered.

"I'm sorry am I disturbing you?" Abigail asked. "I think were are here on the same case. The Brady Case"

"You're right. Messy ,ugly case" He looked up from his notes

"Your end is just the beginning. You found out how it started, I get to work out the ending, hopefully." she said.

"I've never thought about it from that point of view, I never really give the cases much thought after we close our end of the investigation" he answered. She looked at him curiously and sat down on a bench .

He sat down next to her. She had opened her file and absorbed herself in its content.

"I'm sorry, did I say something to offend you " Grissom offered.

"No, but it is hard to believe you dismiss the human beings involved in these cases as just some means to an end." she said quietly. He looked at her. This must be a female thing. Why did all the women he encountered from day to day demand he see the emotional side of everything. Nick and Warrick didn't demand he offer some sort emotional confirmation in their "relationships".

"Mr. Grissom you don't have to explain yourself to me. In fact, I was out of line in making that observation. Please accept my apology" she said.

This caught Gil off guard and before he could say anything the doors of the courtroom opened and the lawyers explained that a juror had been dismissed and that they would not be needed that day. 


	4. four

Gil Grissom turned the key to his front door and smiled. Technically , he was just arriving home from New York. He had not been home since arriving in Las Vegas almost 36 hours ago. He thought about just dumping his bag an going straight to bed, but the obsessive compulsive part of his nature kicked in and he unpacked everything.

His reaction to the ringing of the phone was to hit the button on his alarm clock. He quickly realized where he was and snapped the phone open. Sitting up rubbing his eyes and running his fingers through his hair , he listened to Sophia rattle off a schedule of crimes that would need to be investigated, she asked for information on a scheduled state review and ….. At this point Grissom quit listening and told her he would be in the office within the hour. Gil had not formed a solid opinion of Sophia and her presence on his team. He looked at the clock. He had slept later than usual. No wonder Sophia called, he was usually the one on the phone by this time of day issuing directives but he was exhausted. Gil promised himself that he would leave on schedule and sleep after this shift. He could function on no sleep and caffeine for only so long. The conference, the flight and last nights events had left him with no energy reserve.

The two of them stood in the doorway of the crime scene. It had to be the exhaustion, he had to be hallucinating. His eyes were sending him one image and his brain was rejecting it. Sara stood just inside the sliding doors of the emergency room questioning Lady Heather. In this environment they both looked out of place. He paused long enough to clear his head. Sara was wearing her usual, black pants, black shirt and suede jacket and thick soled shoes. Although Lady Heather wore black she stood in complete contrast to Sara. Lady Heather had on a long soft cape with a hood, underneath Grissom could visualize the elaborately bucked and tied costume that revealed her profession. All that was visible under the cape was the long black stiletto boots she wore. As he approached they both looked in his direction.

"Sara can you get me up to speed on this case" They had been called to the hospital to process a stabbing in the parking lot. Possible domestic dispute that ended in murder.

Sara led him a short distance from lady Heather.

"Apparently a nurse was getting off duty, usually a security guard walked her to the parking lot. Her ex had been harassing her since their divorce, but tonight, she walked to the car …alone and he stabbed her to death before shooting himself. He is in the trauma room, shot himself in the head. The ER doc says if they keep him alive he'll be a gork" Sara expelled all the information in on long breath.

She noticed Gil was looking intently at Lady Heather.

"This is..um… Lady Heather… the deceased sister."

"I don't believe there is any need for my presence. You know how to reach me if I can be of … service" Lady Heather directed these words to Sara, but Gil knew the last sentence was meant for him.

Lady Heather walked away without acknowledging Grissom's arrival. He followed her.

"Don't" she said without turning to face him. He put his hand on her shoulder to turn her

"I said don't" She walked forward and let his hand drop. He kept pace with her.

"Lady Heather, Your sister… are you sure you don't need assistance in any way?" He offered

She slowly turned to face him. Her green eyes glowing. Grissom could smell her perfume.

"Mr. Grissom, The assistance I require regarding my sisters death in no way involves you or your expertise. It is simple, my sister married a brutal man and when she had the courage to leave him, he could not let her go. He was cruel and obsessed. She refused to listen to anyone that confronted her about his obsession. She paid for it with her life." Lady Heather told him .  
"Obsession is a powerful thing" Grissom said

"You can't imagine it… good bye Mr. Grissom." She whispered leaning in close enough for him to feel her breath and walked away.

"What was that all about" Sara demanded when Grissom returned to the doors of the ER.

"What?" He answered.

Sara cocked her head and just stared at him. The encounter she had just witnessed confirmed some old gossip she had heard in the hallways at CSI. She had ignored the rumor that Grissom had flirted with a dominatrix on an older case. She had seen Lady Heather after she had been questioned at the station. Sara had even asked Brass about Lady Heather after she was questioned. All he would say was "Ask Grissom". "Do you know her?" Sara continued to probe.

" Yes." he stated simply. His tone of voice dared Sara keep probing, but before she could answer Grissom's phone rang

"Grissom" He snapped into the phone, thankful for the interruption, wondering how he would have continued the conversation with Sara.

Brass was on the other end. There was a kid at the police station telling them her parents had been killed by intruders. Grissom was needed at the scene and he would need the entire team on this one. It was the Conte family.

"Conte Real Estate?" Sara questioned as they pulled into the manicured grounds of the Conte home.

"Uh Huh. Big Bucks. Look at this lawn. More grass than a golf course" He observed.

These people bought and sold more property than any company in Las Vegas. The family had owned the land most of the casinos had been built upon. The Conte's were old money as far as Las Vegas was concerned. Third or fourth generation rich. This case would have to be handled perfectly.

"Dammit" Grissom muttered as he got out of the truck. "Ecklie"

Sara and Grissom were joined by Catherine and Nick. They had arrived earlier but had not yet entered the house. Brass was at the door and he was not letting anyone inside. Conrad Ecklie looked agitated.

"Gil, finally, you have to do this one perfectly. No problems. I would handle it personally but as you know I have a personal relationship with the Contes." Ecklie said making sure everyone heard him. "James and I have some investment interests in common"

"The fact that you slept with his ex-wife may also compromise your involvement in this investigation , too, Conrad" Gil answered a little to gleefully considering the circumstances.

"Just don't screw up." Conrad hissed hoping no one else had heard the exchange. He then stalked back to his car and drove away.

"Play nice Gil." Catherine whispered as she headed for the door of the house.

Brass briefed the team.

Katie Conte had arrived at the police station around 10:30 a.m. She had run from her car without turning off the ignition and into the station. She was in shock and told the officer on duty that someone had broken into her house and killed her parents. Katie then fainted and was taken to the hospital and upon awakening began screaming . The doctor sedated her. The doctor had been an intern and had not known the police would need to question her. She would not be conscience for 6 or 8 hours.

Nick and Sara took the outside of the house. Gil and Catherine started inside. Everything looked normal, no sign of forced entry at the front or back door. When they arrived in the kitchen, the door to the garage was open and in the garage a window had been shattered. They started upstairs, bloody foot prints were found in the hallway to the master bedroom. A rifle lay at the foot of the bed. The bedside drawer was open. On the bed lay a dead man, shot once in the head at close range and once in the chest. A woman was on the floor on the opposite side of the bed. She appeared to have been shot trying to get out of bed.

"The man was shot first, the wife woke up and the intruder shot the wife." Catherine stated " Then the intruder stepped in the wife's blood and leaned over to shot the husband in the chest."

"Two different guns were used, look at the residue on the wife and then at the husband" Gil pointed out.  
"Well, we know where the bloody footprints came from." She countered "but why do they end at the top of the stairs. The intruder must have taken his shoes off the go down the stairs"

"Something's not right here. Are you thinking what I'm thinking?" He said and knew Catherine had the same idea he had.

They headed back downstairs. Greg had arrived on the scene with Warrick. Grissom directed them to collect all the evidence in the bedroom. He and Catherine headed for the garage. As they reexamined the window, Nick and Sara walked into the garage.

"You two must have reached the same conclusion we did" Nick said shining the beam of this flashlight at the window and the broken glass. 


	5. five

Jim Brass stormed into the hospital. He had reached the psychiatric floor with two deputies in tow. A large orderly approached him.

"Hospital personally only, sorry." the orderly held up his had.

Brass shoved his badge up to the man's face.

"I think I have clearance. I need to see the Conte girl." Brass tried to sound forceful, but it was hard to intimidate a 6'3" man that looked like he had played pro football recently.

"Look, I'm just doing my job. You're gonna have to see Dr. Grey if you want to get past me." the orderly said jerking a thumb at the nurses station.

A women in a white lab coat turned at the sound of her name and walked over to Brass.

"Jim, you should have told me you were assigned to this case." she said kissing his cheek and hugging him at the same time.

"Abigail, I gotta see the kid." He said as they pulled apart.

"She's out , some intern in the ER sedated her. He's going to be sorry when he hits my rotation. I need to speak to her as badly as you do."

"How long til we can talk to her" Brass asked .

"A few more hours, but she's under observation and the minute she wake up, she's all yours provided I am present." Abigail answered.

"You got a professional interest in this case?"

"She's been my patient for 3 years. What happened to her and why aren't James and Susan here?" She wondered

"The parents are dead" he said.

"How did she .. Oh my god… Jim… this poor kid." Abigail sat down in a chair.

"I think there's more to it than meets the eye."

"Can we question the girl?" Gil Grissom asked as he approached Abigail and Brass.

"Three times the charm, Mr. Grissom" Abigail said. Grissom looked at her and faltered before saying anything. She realized he was trying to place her.

"The airport, court, am I really that forgettable, Mr. Grissom" anger was creeping into her voice.

"It's been a long night, Dr. Grey. I apologize for being rude." He said.

"Do you know each other" Brass asked.

"Yes, I seemed to have offended Dr. Grey three times in the last 72 hours" Grissom offered.

"Just three times, in 72 whole hours" Brass laughed. " Gil, You're having an off week"

"Jim, I'll be in my office if you need anything. When Katie comes to I will page you." She turned and walked toward the elevator.

"Jim? Is there something I don't know?" Gil said raising an eyebrow.

"Why?"

"Well, that shade of lipstick on your cheek doesn't flatter your skin tone"

"Oh" Brass wiped the lip print away. "Yeah, Abigail tried to help my daughter when she was a kid." The look in Jim's eyes pained Gil and he steered to conversation back to the case.

"I don't think there was and intruder in that house. The glass from the window in the garage was in the shrubs… outside, not on the floor of the garage." Grissom told Jim as they walked to a coffee pot at the nurses station. Gil knew he would not be leaving this shift on time and poured himself and Jim a cup.

"The scene was staged and not by a professional, I'm sure ballistics will match the bullet in the mother to the rifle , but the gun that killed the father was a hand gun and it hasn't been found. Bloody foot prints were found only in the upstairs hallway. Small footprints. The perp had to stand in the mothers blood to get bloody feet. This is going to be a bad one, Jim"

"Has the press shown up?" Jim inquired.

"Matter of time and we need to be ready. Something went horrible went on inside that house… before tonight, if my hunch is correct." Gil sighed and looked wearier than Jim had ever seen.

"Maybe Abigail knows something that could shed some light on the family" Jim stood , headed in the direction the doctor had departed.

"How well do you know Dr. Grey, Jim?" Gil asked

" Professional basis.. mainly, She's been an expert witness in a lot of our cases dealing with children. Pretty wrapped up in her patients, she came to the funeral, I think she was almost as heart broken as I was…. " His voice trailed off. One of Brass's deputies walked toward him.

"Detective, do you want us to wait here or outside the hospital?" the man asked.

"Oh, right. Gil can you talk to Abigail? We gotta to get ready for the press. I want to be ready when the vultures arrive." with this Brass and the officers departed.

Grissom showed the orderly his badge and asked where he might find Dr. Grey. The orderly delivered him to her office one floor up. He started to knock, when the door opened and Dr. Grey walked into him. They both dropped their files to the floor.

"Shit" She muttered. "That's four. What's your record for being aggravating?"

"At least a dozen" he said as he knelt to pick up the files. She had already started for the files and they bumped heads.

"Shit" she said again "You might break your record tonight. What are these?" She straightened and looked at photographs.

She had picked up crime scene photos from Gil's files. Color photos of the Conte's murder scene. Dr. Grey backed into her office staring at the photos. Gil followed her and closed the door.

"James and Susan. You think Katie had something to do with this." She said after settling herself on the sofa.

"What makes you say that?" He wondered, still standing.

"I've been treating her for three years she's an angry young woman."

"Can you tell me about her?"

"No" She stated. Gil recognized her tone of voice. It was the same tone he had used when discussing Lady Heather with Sara. Was she daring him to say more?

"Any thing you can tell me will help us find our who did this to the Conte's, but at this point in the investigation I can't rule out any possibility." He hoped he sounded benign.

"Can't your evidence just tell you the entire story? I've read your forensics reports, very complete. They are written in a way that suggests all the answers are found in cold hard evidence. People aren't evidence to me, their real. Katie and her family are not just photographs to me. I know these people. You only know the corpses" She handed Gil the photo's as she spoke.

"People are unreliable, the evidence never forgets, never has a motive and it never lies." He looked down at her on the couch. She looked as exhausted as he felt. He took the chair across from her. She sighed and laughed a little

"I don't see any humor in our conversation" Gil said

"It's not the conversation. You are in my usual spot when I see patients and I am on the patient couch. " she offered

"Does that mean something?"

"In both our lines of work everything means something. Don't you agree?" she looked at him

Gil realized that she was looking at him very critically. He didn't know if he wanted to have a conversation with this woman that didn't involve the case at hand. She obliviously held him in some type of contempt.

"You don't like me do you Dr. Grey?" He asked and leaned back in her chair.

"I don't know you well enough to form a personal opinion of you….yet."

"Yet?"

"I have a feeling we will have to deal with each other a great deal, since you believe Katie killed her parents."

"I don't form judgments on beliefs I interpret the facts, Dr. Grey. The feelings are better left to the professionals" He was getting tired, not of the conversation, but physically tired.

"But you , Mr. Grissom, are a professional." she said as she surprised a yawn. The large orderly appeared at the Door.

"Doc, the girls awake and asking for you." the man said.

Abigail stood and walked to the door. She motioned for Gil to follow her. They walked to the observation room Katie was being held.

Abigail indicated to Grissom to stay behind the two way window. She explained that it would be better for her to be alone with Katie.

"Dr. Grey anything I observe will not be of use to the police since Katie is not under arrest . My presence here will violate doctor/patient privilege." he said not under standing why she was allowing him an observation point.

"Then before we proceed … have Jim come up here and charge my patient with something. I know this girl and I think the things we have to discussed and are about to discuss will be useful to you. I do not intended to hide the truth" she told him. "All I want is the truth".

"We want the same thing, doctor." Gil said surprised at her cooperation. He dialed Brass's phone and asked him to come to the observation room immediately.

As they waited for Jim, Grissom finally looked at Abigail Grey. She stood at the window watching a 17 year old girl that he suspected of murdering her parents. Her gaze was strange. It did not hold the pity or empathy he had expected. The gaze was a mixture of horror and disgust. He realized that the doctor had not given him all of the photos that had fallen from his file. She still held one photo and in that photo was a close up of the bodies of this girl's parents and the bloody foot prints on the mother's body. 


	6. the end

"Jim, I am going to go into Katie's room and have a discussion with her that neither you or Mr. Grissom can witness. I will call you when I need you." Dr. Grey said

Grissom could not believe she would allow her patient to be arrested. Most mental health professionals guarded their patients with a death grip. Getting access to a psychiatric patient was next to impossible, but here he was about to get full access. While waiting in the hall both men spoke into their cell phones.

Grissom: What size were the foot prints, okay , and the fibers on the broken glass, good, what about the gun used on the father?

Brass: None at the hospital so far. Not a word to Eclkie, he might call the press, just to screw with us. Put another man at the house. No, don't let anyone near that house. And send a unit to the Cortes building just in case.

Grissom: A bundle, where was it found. Great! Catherine? Have Greg and Sara finished processing the house? Fine, NO! no one goes home until this is processed. No one!

Brass: Tell the Chief were about to have a breakthrough.

Grissom: no don't tell Ecklie anything, okay just outline it for him. I'm working on a lead.  
The door opened and Dr. Grey walked out . Her eyes were red and her face was flushed and not from crying she looked angry.

"Jim, we are going to go into that room and you are going to charge Katie with the murder of her parents. Then I am going to get her to talk about last night or tonight? What day is it? Mr. Grissom you may stay in the observation room."

Gil started to protest, but the look she gave him stopped him. Her physical presence betrayed that she had just had an experience that had shaken her to the bone. Gil stood at the window and watched as Jim and the doctor walked into Katie's room. He saw her answer in the affirmative as Jim read her the Miranda rights. The scared almost catatonic girl he had seen in the window a half hour ago was gone in her place was a alert and defiant young woman. He pushed on the intercom button.

" Katie, do you understand what is going on right now?" Dr. Grey asked

"Yes"

"Tell me why you are in this room"

"Something bad happened"

"Tell us"

"Dad and I had another fight"

"Go on"

"We were at the club, coming out after dinner. I was joking around with some of the kids and I threw my cell phone at Perry's car. It chipped the paint. Dad went ballistic. It was so embarrassing. He stood in the parking lot and screamed at me. He brought up every little thing I had done in the last six months, then he grabbed my arm and shoved me into the car.'

"What was your mother doing?"

"She was in the car. She had gone ahead of us. It was getting too chilly for her. He yelled at me all the way home and she just sat there'

Did he hit you or abuse you in any way on the way home?"

"We have been through this before Abigail. Dad never hit me. He just screamed and yelled and threatened to take away my car, my allowance, my cell, and send me to boarding school as usual. I was so tired of listening to him."

"Katie has your father always had a hard time controlling his temper around you?" "No, that's the crazy part. Daddy and Mommy gave me everything I wanted, they spoiled me rotten, until last year, when I got my drivers license. Then they decided to set "boundaries" You know how it was before last year. It was great. I could go and do anything I wanted, they bought me anything I wanted. Even when they were away on business, they told the nanny to spoil me like they did, they used to love me, remember? Then I got into one little accident."

"The DUI?"

"Duh, That's when all I began to hear from them was: "Don't you know who you are? We are Cortes and we behave in a certain manner… blah blah blah. The stopped loving me last year. That's the only thing I can imagine. Why would they suddenly start giving me rule unless they hated me. So I knew that I had to do something. I decided to kill them. I woke up… went to Daddy's side of the bed and shot him with his gun - from the side table. I had his rifle but I wanted to use his gun. Mommy woke up an I shot her with the rifle. Daddy moved a little. I dropped the rifle, made sure Mommy was dead and shot daddy again. I started downstairs, but mommy had gotten her blood on my feet. I took off my socks, put daddy's gun and the socks in a sweatshirt, went into the garage busted the window . I decided to act like it was a break in. On the way to the police station. I threw the sweatshirt and stuff out the window at the end of the driveway. I really didn't think about getting caught. I am so stupid. I mean if I had stopped to think about it, I should have done it like they do on TV. I could have gotten away with this, right. I can't believe the police found stuff at the house to prove I killed them. Can I get a lawyer like one on TV? Someone hot? I'd just die if I had to have some old guy. Look, I'm really beat can I go home or something?" Katie sat cross legged on the bed the entire time she spoke. As if she were at a slumber party. The strange thing , Dr. Grey and Jim were the only guests.

"Katie, Detective Brass is taking you to jail now. " Dr. Grey walked out of the room.  
Brass hand cuffed Katie. She looked confused.

Brass instructed his deputy to take her to the station and book her.

"I think I need a lawyer now" Katie told them

"I've called your dad's attorney. He'll meet you at the station" and with that Dr. Grey turned to leave. 

"Does your evidence support what she said?" Dr. Grey asked Gil.

"This was a temper tantrum? She killed her parents over a temper tantrum? Is she insane?" He asked bewildered.

" She is a sociopath ,Mr. Grissom. I recognized it the first day I treated her. You see, she was adopted and the Cortes' never had the heart to discipline her… for her own good…. She grew up equating love with permissiveness. When she got old enough that her antics weren't cute, they tried to crack down. She had all the signs of a sociopath. I recommended that she be committed. But James and Susan wouldn't hear of it. We had sessions three times a week for three years. I even told them she was capable of violence. I blame my self for this. If I had pushed harder to have her committed. If I had just worked a little harder…" she abruptly stopped .

"Mr. Grissom, are you alright?" she said.

Gil had the strangest look on his face.

"No, I am not alright."

"Can I help you?"

Grissom paused before beginning to talk. He knew she was used to dealing with emotion. He wondered if she could help.

"It all started when the plane was grounded …..

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Catherine answered the phone.

"What? You have got to be kidding? A day off ? Two Days? No. No. I can handle things. Were almost finished processing last night's festivities. Gil did see Lady Heather's last night? Sara asked me a few questions.. Did something happen a the hospital between you and Lady Heather? No. I know its none of my business. Okay. The Cortes case? We just need to match the evidence to the kid's statement. Yeah. More than likely a fancy nut house, the family has the money. I saw you on the news. You looked tired. Rest you deserve it. See ya."

Gil rolled over in bed.

Sleep that is what he should do.

She had not let him sleep after he left the hospital and he did not have any regrets.

He pulled her too him. He touched her dark hair. Her body fit his perfectly. They lay in bed looking at one another and started to kiss

. Gil wondered if he would be with her if his flight had been on time. If his flight had been on time he would have been able to get more rest. He would not have been living off adrenaline and caffeine for the last 2 or 3 days. He would not have been weak enough to share everything about the women in his life. If he had not poured out the surpressed emotion and examined them, would he have been able to ask her to be with him that night.

They had really looked at each other and knew what they needed. Not food, not sleep but each other. The hell with procedure. He had driven them to his place, a part of his mind still not believing what he was doing. He could not believe she had taken him up on his offer. An offer that had not been spoken as much a felt and he had just said that night that he didn't trust his feelings.  
He trusted evidence. Evidence did not have motive, it did not lie and it never forgot . Isn't that what he had said.

Well, the evidence was lying next to him. Warm, inviting and willing. Why hadn't he noticed. He had spent the past few days , months and years suppressing his feeling. Wanting to be above his emotions. Not any more. When he and Dr. Grey had walked out of the observation room, something had changed. He would not let another opportunity pass him by….Carpe Diem.

"I'm glad you called me when you left the hospital" Sara said as she ran her fingers through his hair. He did need to rest, he looked so tired.

"I felt like I needed you … more than anything." He put his arms around her " shhh… sleep now." "One last question?"

"Shhh… sleep"

"I heard you met Brass's girlfriend. What was she like?"

"She's a doctor, she's very attractive, very perceptive and they are very discreet…. Now SLEEP" 


End file.
